Andylongshaw - Network

“the group frequently saved agencies money by advising them against costly and unnecessary contracts with private vendors”You can see...

“the group frequently saved agencies money by advising them against costly and unnecessary contracts with private vendors”

You can see why it wouldn’t appeal to Musk and his fellow extractive capitalists.

Content warning: the linked article includes includes some offensive right wing statements about LGBTQ+ folks at 18F as part of the background.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/15/elon-musk-18f-x-false-claims?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

US politics - although it will impact us allAway from politics for a second, I feel seen.“I have about 700 tabs currently open”

US politics - although it will impact us all

Away from politics for a second, I feel seen.

“I have about 700 tabs currently open”

US politics - although it will impact us all“And now we’re watching Musk, Trump, and their allies destroy these foundations. They...

US politics - although it will impact us all

“And now we’re watching Musk, Trump, and their allies destroy these foundations. They operate under the dangerous delusion of the “great man” theory of innovation — the false belief that revolutionary changes come solely from lone geniuses, rather than from the complex interplay of open systems, diverse perspectives, and stable institutions that actually drives progress.”

US politics - although it will impact us allHarsh but fair.“If you do not recognize that mass destruction of fundamental concepts of...

US politics - although it will impact us all

Harsh but fair.

“If you do not recognize that mass destruction of fundamental concepts of democracy and the US Constitution happening right now, you are either willfully ignorant or just plain stupid. I can’t put it any clearer than that.”

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/why-techdirt-is-now-a-democracy-blog-whether-we-like-it-or-not/

US politicsSeems like a good day to re-post this…https://oliphant.social/@oliphant/113235790103761837

US politics

Seems like a good day to re-post this…

https://oliphant.social/@oliphant/113235790103761837

This made me smile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUr8QyTCph8

This made me smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUr8QyTCph8

Who could have thought, eh?

Who could have thought, eh?

US politics and musicDoing a little catch-up on @DeanFriedman (Ariel, Well Well Said the Rocking Chair, Lucky Stars) and came across this...

US politics and music

Doing a little catch-up on @DeanFriedman (Ariel, Well Well Said the Rocking Chair, Lucky Stars) and came across this track from 2021 which seems very relevant currently (who would have thought…)

https://deanfriedman.bandcamp.com/track/the-russians-are-coming

Given his latest conference-based attention seeking with a chainsaw, is Musk the new Steve Ballmer? #monkeyboy

Given his latest conference-based attention seeking with a chainsaw, is Musk the new Steve Ballmer? #monkeyboy

Good to see The Last Leg leaving Twitter. Shame they’re not coming to the Fediverse.

Good to see The Last Leg leaving Twitter. Shame they’re not coming to the Fediverse.

“Give us more of your money to gamble with” say casino operators....

“Give us more of your money to gamble with” say casino operators.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/12/nationwide-warns-reeves-against-cutting-tax-breaks-on-cash-isas?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Putting the most positive spin on this you could say that the UK government is still clinging to the belief that “if you’ve nothing to...

Putting the most positive spin on this you could say that the UK government is still clinging to the belief that “if you’ve nothing to hide you’ve nothing to fear”. Conversely they may be just as draconian as any other.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/07/uk-confronts-apple-with-demand-for-cloud-backdoor-to-users-encrypted-data

Bit of a #kevlinhenney from Halfords/cc @kevlin

Bit of a #kevlinhenney from Halfords

/cc @kevlin

For those of you not familiar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this is where Arthur has an exchange with the vending machine on...

For those of you not familiar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this is where Arthur has an exchange with the vending machine on the space ship Heart of Gold. He tries to explain how to make a cup of tea to an increasingly incredulous machine. This results in all of the Heart of Gold’s computational power being diverted into trying to work out why anyone would want “dried leaves in water…with a squirt of cow”.

On the other hand, if all the world’s computing power was being diverted to work out why humans seem to be happy being ruled by a bunch of...

On the other hand, if all the world’s computing power was being diverted to work out why humans seem to be happy being ruled by a bunch of man-child egotists and shady oligarchs that might be a bit more comforting.

Reading about the impact of AI power consumption, I suddenly thought of the part in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when Arthur...

Reading about the impact of AI power consumption, I suddenly thought of the part in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when Arthur causes all of the Heart of Gold’s computer power to be diverted into a really trivial task and as a result the ship can’t deal with a deadly missile attack

This seems like an appropriate metaphor for all the world’s computing power being diverted to generate meeting minutes of random quality while it really would be better applied to the climate crisis

#HHGtG

For fans of Terry Pratchett this could be neatly summarised as the Inverse Leonard of Quirm...

For fans of Terry Pratchett this could be neatly summarised as the Inverse Leonard of Quirm Principle.
https://me.dm/@davidtoddmccarty/113636717999554851

This is what integrity looks...

This is what integrity looks like.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/25/oxford-scientist-resigns-from-royal-society-over-elon-musks-continuing-fellowship?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

As a 58-year-old this quote from @pluralistic resonates.“I’m 52 years old. I used to be way more interested in how things worked. Now...

As a 58-year-old this quote from @pluralistic resonates.

“I’m 52 years old. I used to be way more interested in how things worked. Now I’m interested in how they fail.”

From: https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/06/fool-me-twice-we-dont-get-fooled-again/

If anyone is familiar with this I'm intrigued with the role of the head of the leadership group where that group is not the top-level...

If anyone is familiar with this I'm intrigued with the role of the head of the leadership group where that group is not the top-level "executive" in an organisation. If the leader of the group is a member of a more hierarchically senior group, how is the "first team" dynamic supposed to work in the hierarchically lower group. Has anyone ever come across this?

2/2